Sample Editorial Calendar

In order to deliver good content that communicates your brand’s message effectively, planning ahead is necessary. I provide my clients with an example editorial calendar (shown below). Sometimes I help them develop it and sometimes they take it back to home base and use it as a springboard. I wrote the blog 15 Easy Blog Topics which gives you a solid set of content ideas for blogs as well as use with other social media platforms. I used those ideas to build a sample editorial calendar to give to my clients.

The beauty of using a calendar is that you can plan a year ahead in a very short amount of time. It can be done within one meeting or brainstorming session. Once you plan a structure for the upcoming 12 months, it allows your marketing brain to relax a little because it knows you won’t be drawing a blank when it’s time to write. You can bank the content ahead of time by writing in batches. Batch writing is great for tackling a subject that is too large for just one post. You can write parts 1, 2, and 3 in a single sitting then schedule them to publish at preset times. Writing ahead of time will allow you to look for the topical items in the news that you should be addressing, the things you could never have anticipated but fit nicely with your message.

Feel free to click on the image below for a jpg or on the link to download a pdf version of it. I build it in Excel and you can do the same. Think about your subjects and ideas as you construct it for yourself, this is just a guide. Change the channels that you use to fit your needs. You will most likely expand it to have 4-5 weeks in the month. I’ve seen calendars that show the hours. If that is what you need, make it flex to fit you.

Kerry is a Social Media | Technology Trainer | Speaker | Author based in Santa Rosa, CA. She offers consulting and social media training in the form of individual lessons, customizable classes, and is available to speak at your event. People and tech, together changing the world.